Miss Jones’ eyes twinkled back at him as the corners of her mouth tilted upward.
Although the hair she had tied into a knot at the back of her head was blond, the thick lashes fringing her sapphire eyes were nearly black. And those lips formed a perfect cupid’s bow. They were full and plump, and no proper teacher should be allowed to walk around wearing them. He didn’t understand how he hadn’t noticed her mouth the second he’d gotten a good look at her.
Perhaps he’d been distracted by the nonsense coming out of it.
Which brought him back to why he was staring down at her to begin with.
“You believed me to be horrible?” And yet, why did it matter what she believed?
Both her eyes and her smile widened. She shrugged. “Perhaps not horrible, but… at the very least, slightly disagreeable.”
“How are you doing that?”
“Doing what?”
“Matching your circles to my heartbeat?” Which was slowing and he could barely hear in his ears now.
Her fingertips froze and she lifted her hand toward his face. Addison instinctively drew back until he realized she was answering his question.
“Right here.” The tip of her finger tentatively found the pulse at the base of his neck and then settled there. Her touch felt intimate.
Too intimate.
“I didn’t do it intentionally. I was just watching it…”
Pink flooded her cheeks.
He’d never felt more trapped in his life. He straightened and inhaled a calming breath.
“Are your brother and his wife residing in the country presently?” He might very well need this information sometime in the near future.
“No. They are in London. The dowager prefers it there, but my understanding is that they will withdraw before the holidays… Why?”
“So that I can discuss our situation with him.”
Because there was no way in hell he was going to be allowed to walk away from their present circumstances with his bachelorhood intact. She was unmarried and he a bachelor and the two of them had already been locked alone for close to an hour.
She, of course, would be utterly ruined. Illegitimate or not, she had a baron for a brother and deserved the respect of any proper lady.
And because of him, her reputation would be in tatters.
“Our situation?” Her eyes narrowed, and two lines etched between them, just above her impertinent nose.
“Of course. Once we’re discovered locked together in here, we’ll have no choice but to marry.” Addison’s honor demanded he make an offer.
For the umpteenth time, she caught him unawares. Because rather than address the situation with the sobriety it demanded, Miss Jones threw her head back and laughed.
Oh, My!
Only after wiping away tears of laughter did Collette realize the duke was quite serious in his very blunt and unromantic suggestion that they marry. He did not appear at all pleased at her response.
“You are not serious.”He could not be!
“I assure you, Miss Jones. I would not joke about such a serious matter.”
Of course, he wouldn’t. She wondered what sort of matters he would, in fact, see fit to joke about.
Collette rubbed her hands down her face. He was too outrageous for words.
